Reluctance motor

Abstract

A magnetic rotor (5) is provided inside a stator armature (1) of a reluctance motor with an air gap between them. Two salient poles (5a, 5b), each having a width that is 2.5 times each of angular intervals among adjacent slots (1a, 1b, . . . , 1h) of the stator armature (1), are arranged on the outer peripheral portion of the rotor (5). Magnetic fluxes generated by energizing armature coils (2h, 2d) of magnetic poles (4h, 4d) that are not situated at positions where torque is produced are added to magnetic fluxes generated by energizing armature coils (2a, 2e) of magnetic poles (4a. 4e) that are situated at-positions where torque is produced in a direction indicated by arrow R. As a result, leakage fluxes Fa, Fb between the magnetic poles (4a, 4e) and the salients (5a, 5b) of the rotor (5) increase, causing the torque to increase.

I claim: 
     
       1. A reluctance motor comprising: a magnetic stator formed with 8n units (where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1) of slots disposed in the inner peripheral surface thereof at regular angular intervals of 90 degrees in terms of electrical angles;   8n units of magnetic poles formed by winding armature coils individually between the adjacent slots in said magnetic stator;   a magnetic rotor formed with 2n units of salient poles disposed on the outer peripheral surface thereof and having a width of an electrical angle of 270 degrees and at intervals ranging from electrical angles of 90 degrees to 180 degrees;   means for holding said magnetic rotor relatively to said stator so that the respective outer peripheral surfaces of the 2n units of salient poles of said magnetic rotor and inner peripheral surface of said stator confront one another across narrow air gaps;   rotational position detecting means for detecting the respective rotational positions of the salient poles of the rotor with respect to each slot of said stator;   a power-supply signal generator for generating 4n sets of phase power-supply signals based on rotational position signals from said rotational position detecting means so that power-supply signals in one phase overlap power-supply signals in another phase by electrical angles of 90°;   4n units of phase exciting coils formed by connecting the armature coils of each diametrically opposite salient poles, out of said 8n units of salient poles, in series or parallel with each other; and   a power-supply control circuit designed so that semiconductor switching elements are connected individually in series with said 4n units of phase exciting coils, and that the exciting coils for each phase are energized one after another by turning on the semiconductor switching elements corresponding to the exciting coils for the phase concerned by a width equivalent to an electrical angle of 180°, in response to the power-supply signals of each phase delivered from said power-supply signal generator.   
     
     
       2. A reluctance motor according to claim 1, wherein said rotational position detecting means includes a cylindrical position detecting rotor, fixed to the rotating shaft of the magnetic rotor and formed on the outer periphery thereof, with salients having the same width as the salient poles of the magnetic rotor, and position detecting coils fixed to a frame of the motor in positions at which the position detecting coils can confront face the salients of the position detecting rotor.